Many Chinese web sites widely published a China News Agency article defending China’s military spending. The article was based on a Hong Kong Wen Wei Po article. It acknowledged that in 2008 China’s military expenditures had leaped to the world’s second. It then argued, “Internationally, ‘people with their own agenda’ will inevitably create a new wave of ‘China threats.’ However, since China’s GDP will soon surpass Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy, wasn’t it normal that its military expenditures correspondingly move to second position, too?” “In fact, right now China’s military expenditures, compared to the China’s national defense and security needs, are far from being adequate.”
Source: China News, June 15, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hb/news/2009/06-15/1734256.shtml